112 AMERICAN FERN JOURNAL 
beyond the point where I turned and retraced my steps. 
There was considerable variation in the stature, shape 
of blade, and cutting of frond, ranging from about four 
to eighteen inches in length, from lanceolate to ovate- 
lanceolate and from simple bifureate to compound 
crested. 
Here was something new in my experience; A. Filiz- 
femina, a non-stoloniferous fern, with crested plants in 
abundance, and I was puzzled to account for it. I 
had established four facts; the identity of the fern as 
a form of Asplenium Filix-femina; its abundance as 
considerable; that it was found only in the replanted 
strip; and the presence of several recognizably different 
things all abnormal. 
In seeking an answer to this puzzle it is evident that 
the phenomenon might be accounted for as the result 
of natural or artificial introduction. The late Mr. 
Charles T. Druery, exponent of the cult of English 
fern hybridists, has demonstrated that freak ferns re- 
produce themselves from spores in cultivation. It 
might be possible to account for the abundance of the 
form at West Rock Park through natural means, al- 
though not in accord with my observations on other 
wild species. If, however, this form was reproducing 
itself naturally, it was not apparent why it should be 
found exclusively in the replanted area and ‘not in 
the natural, wild, uncleared second growth. Because 
of this incongruity of position and also on account of 
the extent and the regular interval maintained between 
the plants, I was inclined to adopt the hypothesis of 
artificial introduction. I was deterred from accepting 
absolutely this theory because of the factor of precedent 
involved. I had never known an instance of such an 
_ insignificant plant as this dwarf crested form of Asplen- 
- jum being used extensively in landscape planting. After 
consideration, the weight of the evidence, to my mind, 
